This invention most generally relates to containers. More particularly the invention relates to containers which may be folded in a manner so as to create a selected volume for the container. Most particularly, the invention relates to mailing or shipping containers made of cardboard, corrugated cardboard, boxboard or the like, which are foldably adjustable with respect to a height dimension and consequent volume in order to accommodate articles or collections of articles having a specific volume. The variable volume container thus eliminates the need for post offices and other mailing and shipping businesses to have to purchase and stock a great variety of sizes of boxes and containers. Storage of variable volume boxes is more efficient, and consumers purchasing boxes for shipping do not have to worry about or guess what size box is appropriate for their packages.
Various folding box designs which are foldable from a one-piece blank are known in the art. In this regard, a typical foldable box blank has primary folding lines which may be perforations, indentations, slits, scoring, cuts or any other weakening lines which-provide weakening of the integrity of the unfolded box blank so that the box may be formed by folding at the weakening lines. Such foldable box blanks are usually cut or stamped from a flat sheet of, for example, cardboard. The die used to stamp the blank also scores the blank along selected lines, to enable a person to easily fold the blank along such scores to create the finished container. Some examples of known foldable containers include a typical pizza box, milk carton, and a box used to ship books.
The primary disadvantage with most of the types of boxes discussed above, especially for those in the mailing and shipping fields, is that the box blank can form a box of only one size. Therefore, finished boxes have a fixed and predetermined volume. If a person buys a box, and it is not the right size for the item being shipped, another box must be acquired or the box must be cut down with a sharp instrument such as a knife. Companies that are in the business of packaging goods and mailing and shipping of goods must stock and carry many differently sized boxes or box blanks. In addition, if a box is too big for an item and sufficient packing is not included when the item is packed, there is increased risk of damage to the item or injury to a person carrying the box or container. In particular, the item which is loose in the box may quickly shift if the box is tilted, thus possibly causing damage to the item by hitting the sides of the container, or causing damage to the item or person carrying it when the box is accidentally dropped due to the sudden, unexpected shift of weight. Furthermore, if a force is applied near the top center of a partially filled box, the tape that secures the box can be forced loose.
As a result, various boxes have been designed to be able to form finished boxes having various selectable volumes, thus reducing manufacturing and storage costs, reducing inconvenience for customers attempting to select a container of proper size, and reducing damage to persons and property due to items being placed in inappropriately sized containers. For instance, a book-shipping box known to Applicant comprises a flat rectangular bottom portion with four extending flaps which are each scored along the edge of the bottom portion and at two or three distances out from the flat bottom portion. The scoring enables the flaps to be folded up to different heights to accommodate books of different thicknesses but the corners of the formed boxes remain uncovered. Other examples of boxes having various selectable volumes include U.S. Pat. No. 2,382,891 to McCormick, U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,855 to Becker, U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,467 to Anderskow, and German patent document No. 24 37 862.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 2,382,891 to McCormick discloses a box with extending flaps which can be used to close the box. The reference also discloses a plurality of horizontal creases on the side walls of the box and corner creases in the form of a cut-score or perforation is provided at the corners of the box where the side walls are joined. The perforation allows the corner of the side walls to be separated and the side walls to be folded along the horizontal creases to thereby provide a box having various selectable volumes.
Despite the advantages provided by a box having various selectable volumes, actually changing the volumes on such boxes has been found to be very difficult. In particular, the perforations which join the side walls must be separated to adjust the volume of the box. However, in order to do so, the user must grasp the large side panels and tear them apart in opposite directions with respect to one another while at the same time, overcoming the force exerted by the box and the side walls thereof to resist being temporarily deformed which is necessary to separate the side walls. As can be appreciated, such motion is very difficult to control and often results in over tearing the corner perforation thereby weakening the box or rendering it useless. As a result, none of the above noted prior art boxes having various selectable volumes have gained in popularity in the market place despite being known in the art. Therefore, there still exists an unfulfilled need for a container having various selectable volumes where the volume of the container can be easily changed.
The invention is directed primarily to a container having a plurality of selectable volumes which selectable volumes are made by inwardly folding sides and ends of the container along selectable foldable creases. The invention may also be a container in unassembled form comprised of a flat blank sheet of material foldable to form walls and bottom and scribed or scored before or after assembly into the container, to provide for the selectable creasing and folding. The container may have any suitable use and particularly may be a shipping container or a storage container. Preferably the container, when assembled, is rectangular in cross sectional shape, and may be formed from cardboard, corrugated cardboard, or other suitably strong but creasable and foldable material. The container may be assembleable from a substantially flat form.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the above objects are obtained by a container having a plurality of selectable volumes including a plurality of fold facilitating creases adapted to allow panels to be folded or removed along a fold facilitating crease and/or perforation, further including a first set and a second set of perforations extending substantially parallel to a corner edge to thereby define a removable strip for unconnecting panels that form a corner edge from one another. In one embodiment, the container may have a rectangular shape while in another embodiment, the container may have a triangular, or other polygonal shape. The first set of perforations and the second set of perforations are positioned at a spaced distance from each other. The first set of perforations is provided on a first panel while the second set of perforations is provided on either the corner edge itself or a second panel that form the corner edge. The container may further include lateral perforations extending laterally between the first set of perforations and the second set of perforations as well as slots along a top edge of the panels.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above objects are obtained by a rectangular container having a plurality of selectable volumes including a bottom portion having a substantially rectangular shape with two substantially parallel side edges and two substantially parallel end edges, two side panels attached to and extending upwardly from the two side edges of the bottom portion, and two end panels attached to and extending upwardly from the two end edges of the bottom portion, each of the two side panels having edges which are attached to edges of each of the two end panels to thereby form four corner edges of the container. The container also includes a plurality of fold facilitating creases adapted to allow the two side panels and the two end panels to be folded along at least one of the fold facilitating creases. In another embodiment, the fold facilitating creases may also be formed of fold facilitating perforations instead of, or in addition to, the creases. The container further includes a first set and a second set of perforations extending substantially parallel to a corner edge to thereby define a removable strip for unconnecting a side panel and an end panel that form the corner edge. In this regard, the first set of perforations and the second set of perforations are positioned at a spaced distance from each other, the spaced distance being sufficient to allow a user to grasp the strip to remove at least a part thereof. Further in this regard, slits or slots are provided to allow grasping of the strip in embodiments where end flaps and side flaps used to close the container are provided.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the container having a plurality of selectable volumes, the first set of perforations is provided on one of the side panel and the end panel that form a corner edge while the second set of perforations is provided on either the corner edge or the other of the side panel and the end panel that form the corner edge. In one embodiment, the first set of perforations is positioned at a spaced distance between about xe2x85x9 to 2 inches from the corner edge and the second set of perforations is positioned at a spaced distance between about xe2x85x9 to 2 inches from the corner edge. In another embodiment, the second set of perforations is positioned directly on the corner edge itself. In accordance with another preferred embodiment, the first set of perforations and the second set of perforations extend substantially parallel to each of the four corner edges of the container to allow unconnecting of the two side panels and two end panels. Optionally, in these embodiments, slits may be provided to allow grasping of the strip if end flaps and side flaps used to close the container are provided. In addition, the at least one fold facilitating crease of the container may also preferably include an identifiable marking to facilitate identification of the at least one of the fold facilitating creases on the two side panels and the two end panels. Moreover, in accordance with still another embodiment, the fold facilitating creases may also be formed of fold facilitating perforations instead of, or in addition to, the creases.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the container having a plurality of selectable volumes in accordance with another embodiment further includes at least one lateral perforation extending laterally between the first set of perforations and the second set of perforations to allow detachment of at least a portion of the removable strip. The lateral perforation is positioned at a height distance larger than the at least one fold facilitating crease so that a tab is provided upon folding of the two side panels and the two end panels along the at least one fold facilitating crease. The tab is adapted to be inwardly folded together with the side panel flaps that are attached along a top edge of each of the two side panels and with the end panel flaps that are attached along a top edge of each of the two end panels, thereby covering the opening of the container.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, to the container having a plurality of selectable volumes in accordance with another embodiment includes a pullable reinforcement instead of the perforations. The pullable reinforcement is embedded and/or attached to the panels, preferably in the interior of the container, and is adapted to be pulled by the user to separate the desired portions of the container without providing perforations as described in the previous embodiments. The edges of the pullable reinforcement generally corresponds to the locations of the perforations of the previous embodiments and thus, serve a similar function as the perforations in that the panels are separated at or along the edges of the pullable reinforcement. The pullable reinforcement may also include a reinforcement filament embedded therein to provide further strength to the pullable reinforcement.
The invention has the particular objectives, features and advantages of: 1) being less costly to a reseller because fewer sizes of basic container need to be retained in stock in order to accommodate many sub-sizes; 2) adjustable volume allowing container to hold items more snugly, with less internal movement, thus in some cases eliminating or at least reducing the need for additional packing material, thereby reducing shipping/packaging cost; 3) a variable volume container is advantageous for a catalog merchant who ships varied items and/or quantities in a single box; 4) the container is more environmentally friendly, by reducing the need for extra packing material; 5) less time would be spent in a shipping department figuring out what size container to use for a variety of products; 6) adjustable size is likely cheaper to ship because the appropriate smaller sizes could be selected, thus reducing space for shipping, reducing the number of parcel containers, airplanes, and trailers needed for shipping and consequently reducing the total number of miles driven, gas used, maintenance and repair costs and labor costs; 7) having filled containers ready for shipping which take up less warehouse space, thereby reducing cost; 8) saving on storage space for packing material; 9) all versions of the invention increase safety by eliminating the need to use any type of sharp blade to reduce the volume of a box; 10) cutting down the corners of a container by hand with a sharp blade in order to reduce its volume usually produces cuts of different length and/or cuts that are not straight, resulting in a container, once it is sealed, that is uneven/asymmetrical and therefore not only unpleasing to the eye, but also difficult and unsafe to stack; 11) an embodiment of the invention with precut sealing strips increases efficiency and saves time at the Post Office, because postal clerks would no longer have to tape boxes for customers, thereby saving the Post Office labor time and cost of materials for taping, and saving time for all customers, especially those waiting in line; 12) savings in damage and replacement cost for items damaged in shipping due to internal movement of the item within a container too large for the item; 13) being available in several base adjustable sizes, and being available in heavy and light weight versions, for various goods; 14) being more cost effective for consumers who wouldn""t have to buy, along with a box, a package of packing material, and a full roll of tape or other sealing materialxe2x80x94an appropriately sized container with just the right amount of sealing material would be available as a kit; 15) providing a more robust container which can be more effectively packaged, sealed and stacked; 16) providing a cost effective and economically viable container having variable volumes; 17) providing cost and volume savings since only one model of box need be manufactured and/or purchased; and 18) providing a container which may be reused at a same volume configuration or a smaller volume configuration.
These and further objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains after a study of the present disclosure of the invention.